140 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Aagaet 12, 187S. 



will and well-applied skill, and to note how parseveranoe and 

 enterprise in a borticaltnral pursuit have won suocess. — W. 



NOTES ON VILLA akd SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



KITCHEN QAKDEN, 



CoNTiNOE to earthup all the forward Celery as time will 

 permit, in order to have it well blanched for use at an early 

 date. The later plantings may be allowed to grow much more 

 before earthing, for as it is required for keeping, the stems be- 

 come more hardened by long exposure to the air. Plant out a 

 good lot of Endive of sorts on some of the best of the Potato 

 ground. The same sort of ground will do for a bed of Prickly 

 Spinach to be sown now. Cauliflowers should be sown shortly 

 for handglasses, and in a short time another little lot sown, to 

 be kept over the winter in frames or under other temporary 

 protection. Cabbage plants for the spring bed must be raised 

 at once and the ground be prepared for the plants. Lettuces 

 may now be sown in quantity, to be planted out for autumn and 

 winter use ; good sorts are Lane's Bath Cos and Hardy Green 

 Cabbage Lettuce. For this planting I like the soil to be firm at 

 planting time, but it ought to bo pretty good; merely pointing 

 the surface soil up of sufficient depth to insert the plants will 

 do. I of course allude to a soil that has always been well worked. 

 Under such conditions the plants do not grow so large, but they 

 become firmer in texture, and are therefore better able to bear 

 the winds and wet of early winter. 



Continue to plant out Savoys, Coleworts, and Asparagus Kale. 

 The frequent showers we are having will start them well. Sow 

 seed of Tripoli Onions for spring use. All the forward Potatoes 

 have been taken up, and so far are nearly free from the disease. 

 The late sorts have not escaped, but if they were ripe I would 

 take them all out of the ground, or treat them the same as Mr. 

 Durey does at Hothfield. He pulls the haulm out and earths 

 the rows up sharp and high, leaving the tubers there for a long 

 time. He says they keep better in this way than any other. 



rsniT OASCEN. 



The wood of wall fruit trees in general should be constantly 

 kept nailed-in. Strong shoots of Peaches and Nectarines often 

 throw out many laterals, which should be pinched out at the 

 lowest bud, and all other wood not likely to be wanted may be 

 cleared out with advantage to that remaining. Always be care- 

 ful of the foliage. Place a net over all trees with fruit ripening : 

 the hexagon netting is the best, as it admits plenty of light and 

 air, as well as keeping away flies and wasps. Plant out young 

 Strawberries at once from those which were layered in pots. 

 Take care not to plant too deep. The crown of the plant should 

 be left well up, so that it may receive all the sun and air possible. 

 Those required for forcing must be potted-on in the same way, 

 only the soil must be made firm in the pot, and afterwards the 

 pots be stood upon a hard bottom, so that they cannot root 

 through ; they will then make good plants with well-formed 

 crowns. 



FLOWER GAEDEM. 



Should the weather prove fine now the bedding plants will be 

 in great baauty for some time to come; and as most of the 

 Pelargonium class have grown considerably they will need a 

 little regulating, and in some cases cutting back. These shoots 

 so taken off may be struck, as it is now time to think a little 

 about propagating for next season's supply ; but before doing 

 that it is advisable to first determine what alterations, if any, 

 are needed in the arrangement and associations of colours, and 

 marking any deficiency in the growth of any plant, so that a 

 more perfect system may prevail another year. By this mode 

 much inconvenience will be spared in keeping useless plants 

 over the winter. Give a finish to all parts of the garden by 

 attending to neatness and order. Edgings of beds should be 

 smooth and trim, and walks clean and free from weeds, and a 

 garden will yield additional enjoyment. — T. Recoed. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



HARDY rnUIT GARDES. 



The fruit room should now be thoroughly cleansed, if it has 

 not been already done ; the walls whitewashed, and the stages, 

 floor, &c., thoroughly scrubbed with a stiff brush and hot soapy 

 water ; the doors and windows ought to be opened in fine weather 

 afterwards to allow of it becoming thoroughly dry. The earliest 

 Apples and Pears are now ripening, and are gathered as soon 

 as the stalks part freely from the branches ; the trees require 

 looking over every day, as a very slight wind causes the fruit to 

 fall off. 



The Apple first to ripen is the White Joanneting; it is best 

 gathered from the tree and used at once. Early Red Margaret 

 is the next, followed by Red Aetraohan, and but very little later 

 the Irish Peach ; the last-named is only a week or ten days later 

 than the Red Margaret, but it is by far the best for flavour. 

 Some of the fruit was ripe about the last da; in July, and a large 



basket was gathered on the 5th of August. At the same time as 

 Irish Peach the Early Harvest was gathered. This is also a very 

 excellent Apple. A tree of each of the above should be grown 

 in the most select collections, except, perhaps, the Astrachan, 

 for the tree is of very vigorous growth, which is not a point in 

 its favour, except for orchards ; its fruit is the most beautiful of 

 all, but the beauty is only skin deep, the fruit being too acid for 

 dessert purposes. 



Doyennfi d'Etfi Pear is nearly over, but an old tree of Jargo- 

 nelle that ripens its fruit ten days before another that waa 

 planted ten years ago is now producing ripe fruit. The old tree 

 has passed the meridian of its life, and does not make much 

 growth. In taking a tabulated estimate of the time of ripening 

 of different varieties the probable age of the trees ought always 

 to be taken into account. 



Old trees on walla have not required any attention as to nail- 

 ing or stopping of growths. A tree in full bearing does not 

 make much growth, for when the fruit has taken its second 

 swelling aU the vigour is required to ripen-ofl the fruit. Young 

 trees continue to grow until stopped by autumnal frosts; tne 

 growths should be nailed into their places, else the autumn gales, 

 which are not far distant, make sad havoc. Leading growths 

 must have special care taken of them, as on the care exercised 

 in training them correctly the symmetry of the tree depends. 

 All robust growths should be stopped up to the present month ; 

 after the 1st of August no young growths should be stopped. 



Many of the old-fashioned gardeners, and some of the more 

 modern school, would not stop the growths, but permit them to 

 run 6 feet or more, and then cut back in autumn or winter. A 

 wall tree under proper summer pinching will cover a wall in 

 less than half the time that it would take to do so by the old 

 system of allowing all the leading growths to mature without 

 stopping. Take, for instance, a Pear tree horizontally trained to 

 a brick wall 12 feet high ; it has a leading growth in the centre, 

 and two side branches opposite to each other to start with. 

 Now we want to place branches opposite to each other, and at 

 9 inches apart to the top of the wall. To do this the leader is 

 cut at 9 inches from the first pair of branches ; a number of eyes 

 will start, but three growths only are saved, one to form a 

 leader and the others for side branches. Now, if the leader is 

 not stopped no more side branches will be formed that year; it 

 may grow 6 feet or more, but no side branches will be formed. 

 It is again cut down to 9 inches at the winter pruning, and the 

 same process of training is repeated annually, and only one pair 

 of branches is formed each year. Now, instead of letting the 

 leader run away let it be pinched back, and three pairs of side 

 branches may be formed instead of only one pair, so that by 

 pinching the tree will do as much in one year as it would in 

 three by the other method. 



Apricots are now ripening, and some of the earliest Plums. 

 It will be necessary to protect them by hexagon netting from 

 birds, and the choice Apricots must be covered with gauze to 

 preserve the fruit from flies. It is a good plan to mulch the 

 borders with litter ; this prevents evaporation and protects the 

 fruit that falls from being bruised. 



VINERIES. 



We do not have mnch warmth by day, and it has been so 

 chilly at night that it is quite necessary to use artificial heat 

 both in the Hamburgh and Muscat houses. A circulation of 

 air is kept up by opening the front and back ventilators a little, 

 and this circulation is further promoted by the heat in the pipes. 

 Grapes colour best in well- ventilated houses, and a constant oir- 

 cnlation is necessary. We fancy that black Grapes finish best 

 in dull weather, sunshine in abundance being requisite for 

 Muscats and all the white varieties. Trebbiano, White Nice, 

 White Tokay, and others of this class seem to require more heat 

 to ripen them than the Muscat of Alexandria, and, as a rule, 

 when they are ripened the flavour is not superior to the Almeria 

 Grapes that are sold at a shilling a-pound in the winter. In 

 Essex Muscats can in most seasons be ripened very well without 

 any artificial heat after the fruit is set. This year the sun heat 

 has not been sufficient to ripen them. 



It is now a good time to have the early vineries painted. If 

 this is deferred until later the work cannot be doue so satis- 

 factorily ; the lights ought to be taken off, so that the paint may 

 reach all the crevices. In fine weather all the permanent work 

 may be done ; the lights to be placed in a dry place and reserved 

 to the last in case the weather should be wet. Early vineries 

 suffer more than later houses ; much heat and moisture early 

 in the year is very trying to the paint. They ought to have 

 three coats of good paint outside and two inside every three 

 years. 



The pot Vines intended for early forcing have now nearly 

 ripened their wood. Water more sparingly at the roots, main- 

 tain a drier atmosphere, and ventilate more freely. The bads 

 are now being formed for the future crop. 



CCCUUBER HOUSE. 



It seems almost needless to say anything about culture at 

 this season, as any cottager with an ordinary box light can easily 

 supply his family with Cacombers at this season, bat we are 



